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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this whole car/truck metaphor that we use when trying to talk about the rise and fall of the personal computer. It led me to dig up the original Steve Jobs video and think about how Apple sees the Mac today. So I made a video.
(Videos are things, right?)
Transcript:
When people talk about if tablets will replace computers, it’s only a matter of time before we start talking about cars and trucks. It’s a reference to a metaphor Steve Jobs used in 2010 to discuss the “post-PC world.”
The personal computer was once the only device we could use to access the internet, so everybody needed to have a computer to do that because the Internet is awesome.
But now phones and tablets let us do that better than the PC, so the only people using computers will be people who need to use them, because they’re the best tool for that particular job.
So where do the cars and trucks come in? It’s worth going back to what Steve Jobs originally said, rather than just the idea of what he said.
When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks, cause that’s what you needed on the farm. But as vehicles started to be used in the urban centers, and America started to move into those urban and then suburban centers, cars got more popular and innovations like automatic transmission and power steering and things you didn’t care about in a truck as much started to become paramount in cars.
This isn’t really true. In 1908 Ford began selling the Model T, the first truly mass-market vehicle, and it was a car.
Still, Jobs does make a fantastic point here about how consumer demand shapes product design. Through the years, car designs have evolved to make things much more comfortable for the people who buy them. Can you believe cars didn’t used to have cup holders?
PCs are gonna be like trucks. They’re still gonna be around, they’re still gonna have a lot of value, but they’re going to be used by 1 out of x people.
In other words, PCs will be a niche technology, while the majority of people will gravitate to smartphones and tablets.
And this transformation is going to make some people uneasy. People from the PC world, like you and me. It’s going to make us uneasy. Because the PC’s taken us a long ways. It’s brilliant. And we like to talk about the post-PC era, but when it really starts to happen, I think it’s uncomfortable for a lot of people. Because it’s change, and a lot of vested interests are going to change, and it’s gonna be different.
This is perhaps the most interesting part of what Jobs said. Because it’s about how those of us who were raised in the PC era will become increasingly uncomfortable with the changes ahead of us.
When Steve Jobs says “Vested interests are going to change” it makes me think of the concerns professional Mac users have had since the new MacBook Pros came out. It was once Apple’s vested interest to cater to the professional computer market. Is it now?
If tablets are cars and Macs are trucks, how can you explain Apple’s design of the 2015 MacBook and 2016 MacBook Pro? These are optimized for lightness and thinness, not processor power. A MacBook Pro that trades more memory and a more powerful graphics card for thinness and lightness sounds an awful lot like a car to me.
So maybe it’s a mistake to think that Macs are trucks. Maybe today’s Macs are more like SUVs: they’re more expensive and better appointed cars. It’s a category that’s just as popular as the car, and way more popular than the pickup truck.
Mac For Cac
If Apple decides the largest market for Macs is the SUV market—people who want to buy a computer, but don’t really need to be Professional Grade—Where does that leave the harder-core pro users?
If you’ve been driving a Ford all your life, will you switch to a Chevy? Or will you drive a Ford SUV and learn to live without the truck bed?
So I think that we’re embarked on that. Is it the iPad? Who knows? Will it be next year or five years from now or seven years from now, who knows? But I think we’re headed in that direction.
It’s six years later, now. We’re headed in some direction. PC sales are down. But tablet sales are down too. The smartphone towers over everything. So maybe the smartphone’s the car — The general-purpose device that everyone loves.
It’s hard to imagine a future where everyone uses a smartphone to get all their work done. Even if tomorrow’s smartphones have all the computing power of today’s PCs, those smartphone screens are awfully small.
But what’s the truck of tomorrow? Will it be the personal computer, as Steve Jobs suggested? Will it be the tablet? Will it be some merged combination of the two?
And if you’re someone who loves Apple products, will Apple still be in the business of making trucks? Or will it be too focused on the business of making cars for the masses?
Just as Steve Jobs suggested back in 2010, it’s change. And it’s gonna be different. And it’s gonna make all of us uneasy.
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Here are the steps on how to install a CAC Reader for Mac:- Ensure your CAC reader works with Mac
- Check to ensure your Mac accepts the reader
- Check your Mac OS version
- Check your CAC’s version
- Update your DOD certificates
- Guidance for Firefox Users
- Look at graphs to see which CAC enabler to use
Step 1: Purchase a Mac Friendly CAC Reader
Purchase a CAC reader that works for your Mac. There are only a couple that you can choose from and I’ve listed them below.
If you already have a CAC reader and it isn’t Mac friendly, you could update the firmware, however, for the non-tech savvy people out there, it’s probably better to just purchase a new one and save the headache – they’re only ~$11-13 dollars.
Best Mac Compatible CAC USB Readers
Best Mac Compatible CAC Desk Readers
Step 2: Plug in and Ensure It’s Accepted
Once you have your CAC reader, plug it into your Mac and ensure your computer recognizes it. If you have one of the CAC readers we suggested above, then you should be good to go.
If for some reason your CAC reader isn’t working, you may need to download the appropriate drivers for your CAC reader. You can find these drivers on the Reader’s Manufacturer Website.
Step 3: Update Your DOD Certificates
Now that you have your CAC reader connected and accepted on your Mac computer, it’s time to ensure you have the right certificates in order to access DOD CAC required web pages.
Mac For Cataract Surgery
Procedure for Chrome and Safari
- Type ⇧⌘U (Shift + Command + U) to access your Utilities
- Find and Double click “Keychain Access”
- Select “Login” and “All Items”
- Download the following five files and double click each once downloaded so as to install in your Keychain Access.
- When you double-click the Mac Root Cert 3 and 4, you’ll need to tell your browser to always trust them. Click the button like you see below:
Additional Steps for Firefox
If you’re using Mozilla Firefox as your primary browser, you’re going to need to perform some additional steps. First, perform the same steps that you did for Chrome and Safari. Afterwards, follow these additional steps to get started.
- Download All Certs zip and double click to unzip all 39 files
- While in Firefox, click “Firefox” on the top left, then “Preferences”
- Then Click “Advanced” > “Certificates” > “View Certificates”
- Then Click “Authorities” and then “Import”
- Import each file individually from the “AllCerts” folder. When you do this, the below box will popup. Check all three boxes and click “OK”
Step 4: Download and install CAC Enabler
Choosing the right CAC enabler can be pretty tricky. It all depends on what OS you have installed, how you installed it, and even what kind of CAC Card you have!
In order to get the right enabler, be sure to visit our trusty guide to Mac CAC Enablers! It’ll walk you through exactly which enabler is right for you.
CAC Access at Home Success
Now that you have a CAC reader, certificates, and a CAC Enabler, you should now be able to access any CAC-enabled website and log on using your CAC password and data.
Common Reasons Why Your CAC Card Won’t Work On Your Mac
Ensure Your CAC Card Meets the Standards: In order for your CAC card to work, it must meet the minimal requirements. Currently, there are only four types of CAC cards that can be used. The ensure you have the right CAC card for online access, flip your CAC card to the back and if you have one of the below numbers written on the top left, then you are good to go:
- G&D FIPS 201 SCE 3.2
- Oberthur ID one 128 v5.5 Dual
- GEMALTO DLGX4-A 144
- GEMALTO TOP DL GX4 144
If you do not have any of the above written on the back, then proceed to your nearest PSD to get a new CAC card issued.